Lifestyles of the Homeless and Soon to be Famous

It could happen to anyone...

Once-Homeless Famous People:
Actors Michael J. Fox, Danny Bonaduce, Drew Carey, Traci Lords, Jean-Claude Van Damme, comedienne Joan Rivers, folk singer-song writer Woody Guthrie, radio-show host Don Imus, Steven Pressfield, Suze Orman, George Eads, Kelsey Grammer,
Cary Grant, magician Harry Houdini, David Letterman, Sally Jesse Raphael, Debbie Reynolds, Mr. Kentucky Fried Chicken-Harland ‘Colonel’ Sanders, Hillary Swank

Read more here and at http://beckyblanton.com/funny/famous-homeless-people

Steven Pressfield

“It is one thing to study war, and another to live the warrior’s life.” - Pressfield
Pressfield, a Marine, author and once homeless – living in his Chevy van with his cat, struggled to the top of his field, but is firmly ensconced there after writing “The Gates of War, The War of Art, and The Legend of Bagger Vance, among others. His website, his philosophy and his books are well worth the read, as any military man will tell you. The Gates of War is considered the bible of war for any one entering the military.

Suze Orman.
Suze has been called “a force in the world of personal finance” and a “one-woman financial advice powerhouse” by USA Today.
USA Today called Suze Orman “a force in the world of personal finance” and a “one-woman financial advice powerhouse.” She’s also a two-time Emmy Award-winning television host, New York Times mega bestselling author, magazine and online columnist, writer/producer, and one of the top motivational speakers in the world today. With her own shows on television, radio and the internet, plus regular appearances on Oprah, Orman is undeniably America’s most recognized expert on personal finance.
However, she dropped out of college shortly before graduating. According to her most recent book, “Women & Money,” she borrowed $1,500 from her brother, bought a used Ford Econoline Van, and with the help of a friend converted it for sleeping. Then she and two friends took off to “see America.” Shortly after that they got jobs clearing trees from a field. Suze said she lived in the van for two months before getting her next job – as a waitress at the Buttercup Cafe. Although Orman never uses the word “homeless” to describe her stint in the van, the US Census Department would.

George Eads

Actor; star of the television series CSI: Crime Scene Investigation lived out of his car, in Los Angeles while a struggling actor.

Kelsey Grammer

Emmy Award-winning actor; star of the television series Frasier camped out the back of a theater behind his motorcycle (source: Entertainment Tonight, December 12, 2001, celebrity ‘Rags to Riches’ story segment.)

Cary Grant

Oscar-winning actor slept rough on the streets of Southampton, England during a summer in his youth at the time of World War I. (source: book, Cary Grant: A Biography, by Marc Eliot, 2004, page 31: “Archie then volunteered for summer work as a messenger and gofer on the military docks, often sleeping in alleys at night if he didn’t make enough money to rent a cot in a flophouse.”).

Harry Houdini

Magician, escapologist and actor; Hungarian-born American author slept rough and in temporary shelters; left home at age 12 in search of work and traveled for two years on his own, making his way from Wisconsin to Missouri and settling finally in New York City.

David Letterman

Emmy Award-winning television writer, comedian, author and talk-show host of the television talk-show Late Show with David Letterman spent time living out of his Chevy pickup truck while struggling to establish his career.

George Orwell

His real name was Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950), but he’s better known by his pen name George Orwell. Blair/Orwell was an English author. His work is marked by a profound consciousness of social injustice, an intense, revolutionary opposition to totalitarianism, a passion for clarity in language and a belief in democratic socialism.
Considered “perhaps the 20th century’s best chronicler of English culture,” he wrote works in many different genres including novels, essays, polemic journalism, semi-sociological literary criticism, and poetry. His most famous works are Homage to Catalonia (1938); his personal account of his experiences and observations in the Spanish Civil War, the satirical novel Animal Farm (1945), the dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949), and his numerous essays. Orwell’s influence on popular and political culture remains apparent, with numerous of his literary concepts, and the term “Orwellian” entering the popular vernacular. The origin of his pseudonymic surname “Orwell” can possibly be derived from the river Orwell which, due to being a massive port and having the largest town near his fathers home in Southwold, was a favoured place of his. He stayed in homeless shelters either to research material for his work or more likely, out of necessity.

Sally Jesse Raphael

It is written in her biography, ‘An Unconventional Success’ that she lived in her car for a time. For a while, her financial situation was so dire that she was on food stamps.

Debbie Reynolds
Wrote about having to literally live in her Cadillac for a while after divorcing Harry Karl.

Harland ‘Colonel’ Sanders

Businessman; founder-spokesperson of the Kentucky Fried Chicken fast-food restaurant chain. Became homeless at age 10 when his mother remarried and he left home due to altercations with his stepfather. As an adult he slept on the back seat of his car because he could not afford lodging as he traveled around the United States and Canada, sometimes with his wife Claudia, trying to sign up restaurants to use his special fried chicken recipe for a franchise licensing fee.

Martin Sheen

Emmy Award-winning actor,director and producer; slept in New York City subway while a young struggling actor. Ramón Gerardo Antonio Estévez, (born August 3, 1940) better known by his stage name Martin Sheen,[1] is an actor best known for his performances as Captain Willard in the film Apocalypse Now and President Josiah Bartlet on the television series The West Wing. As well as the critical acclaim he has received as an actor, he has become known as an activist. Born and raised in Ohio, United States, with Irish and Spanish parents, Sheen is also an Irish citizen.
He is the father of actors Carlos Irwin Estévez (Charlie Sheen), Emilio Estévez, Ramón Estévez and Renée Estévez, and is brother of the actor Joe Estevez.

Hillary Swank

In 1989, when she was 15, Swank and her mom packed up their Oldsmobile Delta 88 and, with just $75, headed to Los Angeles. They lived in the car until a friend [evetually] gave them a place to stay. Swank’s mom used a pay phone to book her daughter for auditions. (Readers Digest)